Vault’s Verdict

Kx Advisors appears to be vindicating every reason for spinning the business out of Kaiser Associates in 2019. Despite doing the bulk of its firm building to date throughout a global pandemic, Kx has gone from strength to strength, adding headcount and clients at a steady clip.

Insiders are effusive about their careers with the firm, with words like “joy”, “fun” and “considerate” all cropping up in this year’s batch of survey responses—terms that are unusual simply for their lack of use by consultants at competing firms.

All of that adds up to an opportunity to build a rewarding, well-compensated career with a firm that appears to be making rapid headway in a burgeoning sector of the industry. It’s healthcare consulting, but not as we typically know it.

Firm Culture

“A focus on joy—we really try to emphasize a human-centric approach to our work and processes. This means having fun with our clients, in addition to the requisite excellent work, and not letting ego and pretense take hold in any of our internal interactions. We want people to feel supported and able to express their authentic selves. This is also included in our firm Values.”

“I was nervous about entering the corporate consulting world based on stories I had heard from friends at other firms. I didn't know anyone at Kx so I took a gamble and it has completely defied any stereotype thus far.”

“Kx Advisors allows new employees to learn by placing employees in real-world challenges, thus increasing their growth rate exponentially.”

“One-of-a-kind opportunity to focus in healthcare growth strategy, advance your career/compensation rapidly, and work with incredible people & leaders.”

“The fact I was able to present to a client only 3 weeks into my job was unique. Having these early growth opportunities allowed me to feel as though Kx had my back, was confident in my abilities, and would provide me with feedback to help me develop, not to tear me apart.” 

Quality of Life

“Everyone at my firm is very considerate of how many hours I am working. If I am still in the office as someone is leaving they will ask if I need help or remind me not to work too hard. It creates for a very good work-life balance.”

“My firm has little to no travel, which is great. Before the pandemic I worked at a Big 4 firm and was traveling 4 days a week. My firm also fosters a culture of work life balance, and managers/partners look to avoid forcing working team members to work past normal working hours. While this does still happen, it is typically because of unforeseen circumstances, it is not the expectation to work late every night. The only downside of the firm’s quality of life is that because of our size projects can be understaffed, or with less resources we may have to get creative with our research methods.”

“Overall the company is very respectful of non-work obligations and has mechanisms in place to allow you to organize your time effectively while still meeting requirements for deliverables and internal initiatives. Communication with leadership and HR is straightforward and transparent.”

“Personally, my favorite part of Kx is that firm leadership encourages us to find the most efficient way to complete work not so that we can move on to an additional task, but rather get home to our families. They promote having a life outside of Kx and don't require employees to sit in the office until the end of the business day if all our work is finished for the day. The office has a come as you'd like environment to it, allowing people to align the work day to best suit their schedules. I feel comfortable heading home early, stepping out during the work day, and even taking time off. Having low travel requirements make the trips feel more exciting and special, while maintaining boundaries between work and home life. I feel as though there are few jobs with such reasonable hours and cultures that a recent college graduate could have.”

“The number of hours worked per week definitely ebbs and flows. It can be challenging because there isn't usually a ‘normal’ hours per week - some are standard 9-5, other times you end up working for 14 hours straight. This is strongly dependent on the client / project and seems to be heading more towards a steady work-life balance as the firms recognized this and began staffing accordingly. There are no travel requirements - most people work from home or in a hybrid model. Taking time off is generally doable, but there is a sad culture of believing you have to be available or checking your email even when taking time off. Some people do a better job of this than others but it's challenging to take time off during busy projects.”

Compensation

“I am at an entry-level position, so I cannot speak to the progression of salary progression, but I feel as though Kx offers a competitive salary. I do wish that bonuses were more transparent, as it was not clear how to earn a bonus during my internship. I do love the transportation perk. I wish meals were reimbursed after 7pm while working from home as well as in the office since it is often just as hard to make time for cooking while working from home as it is in the office. Additionally, a mental health/wellness stipend or library would be a great addition to the firm.”

“Kx has an excellent compensation package; they truly value their employees and employee qualifications. They are also very good about reimbursing any and all work-related expenses. A favorite perk is the reimbursement of a meal and Uber ride home if you do need to work late in the office. Furthermore, the Boston office includes free breakfast, snacks, and coffee/tea daily.”

“One of the things I appreciated most about Kx when going through the interview process was that they were very transparent about salary levels. Each employee working in the same position makes the same salary, eliminating the potential for pay inequity. I received a significant signing bonus and reimbursement for moving expenses, and have my monthly metro fees covered by the company.”

“The firm has pay transparency and equality, so everyone at the same level makes the same salary. We also have access to the next 2 pay levels to see how our salary will change when we are promoted. The signing bonus of 10K was good, but the they only offered $1,500 for relocation (reimbursed) which was not enough to cover my expenses from out of state. The salary is decent but low for the industry, especially in a major metro area. But the stable life/lack of travel is nice.” 

“The salary is good, nearly competitive to most boutique consulting firms. The package is standard with minimal perks and a signing bonus of $25k.”

Career Development

“Best: The firm has a very transparent promotion timeline and pay scale for each level, as well as clear guidelines for performance metrics you need to meet. They recently started a DE&I committee to improve diversity equity and inclusion. The firm has monthly meetings for continuing education and there is ongoing committee work to improve learning and access to resources. 

Worst: I wish onboarding had been a little more substantial. It last about one week, but I think more hands-on training could be beneficial.”

“Career development is fast at Kx. Most projects are 4-8 weeks, so in an average year all consultants will get exposure to 7+ projects with a variety of clients, methodologies, and strategic problems. This keeps the learning curve steep and provides consultants with the ability to become true cross-industry experts. What I think differentiates Kx's career development the most from peers is the one-on-one investment that everyone makes in developing team members - from partners to entry level Associate Consultants. There's very much a growth mindset embedded in the culture with frequent empathetic feedback to encourage team members to reach their potential.”

“Kx operates as a meritocracy. Consultants are evaluated after every project and on a 6-month basis according to a standard set of core competencies and critical experiences by level. Promotion guidelines are also clearly defined based on project and 6-month reviews, and top performers can earn promotions 6+ months ahead of time. We have a formal mentoring program, as well as a dedicated mentor program led by our Women@Kx committee. We give consultants at all levels access to clients very early in their tenure, and this helps them build critical consulting skills.”

“The firm has a flexible promotion process, meaning that if you're ready for the next level, they'll move you in a year or less. It’s also nice that you have the opportunity to be promoted quarterly. I had been in my role for a year, and I was close to being ready for the next level, but not quite. I was able to get promoted 3 months later, as opposed to having to wait another year to be evaluated for promotion.”

“The promotion process is very straightforward, however it depends on project reviews very heavily, which can be subjective at times depending on who you are working with and the project type / difficulty level. Overall career development and growth are strongly encouraged and upper management is very supportive and accessible. The overall diversity of the firm has been growing significantly over the past few years.”

Community Engagement

“I am very impressed by my firm's own efforts and education on discrimination in the workplace, especially around recruiting. The support network among women at the firm is also incredibly strong. “

“Kx does a great job providing Women with a chance to advance careers and find female mentors within the Women@Kx program. As a majority female company, it has been a great experience to feel supported and represented in firm leadership and teams. Kx could improve diversity especially among the Black community, but recent efforts have brought more people of color to the company. Additionally, drawing more students from nationally-recognized schools on the West Coast could help diversify the largely East Coast-raised employee pool currently at Kx.”

“Kx has several D&I initiatives, including a Women@Kx group that work to create initiatives, mentoring pairs and events that foster an inclusive environment. At Kx, I feel that I get to work with a variety of individuals coming from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, etc.”

“The firm appears very thoughtful about giving opportunities to diverse candidates and, once hired, appear to have an equal chance at interesting work.”

“There is a D&I committee dedicated to hearing many voices and thoughts. I definitely feel that everyone at the firm has equal access to high-quality work. As a person of color, I was blown away by just the number of people of color at the company spanning different levels - I think that's step 1 and Kx definitely is trying.”

Business Outlook

“Despite being a small company, Kx continues to pull huge clients in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, and rare disease spaces. Clients seem to love the personal relationships that are formed with all employees—from Associate Consultants to Managing Partners. I feel like Kx is uniquely positioned between a consulting powerhouse and a mom-and-pop agency since we provide the personalization of a smaller company with the industry expertise and talent pool of a large company.”

“I think we've done incredibly well compared to the macro-economic environment. We've continued to grow our business and organization this year despite these macro-economic setbacks.”

“Kx is a rapidly growing firm that is highly competitive in the consulting industry, particularly in the life sciences/healthcare growth strategy market. The firm has a wide array of clients, from major life sciences companies to smaller startups. Kx is positioned to grow even further and thrive in the coming years.”

“My firm is constantly evaluating the industry trends and releasing expert blogs surrounding what it means for companies in healthcare. Our clients are consistently impressed with our outputs and we establish friendly, personal relationships with everyone on the client project teams.”

“We are a life sciences and healthcare consulting firm, and the biotech industry has faced headwinds (S&P Biotech index is down 44% in the last year), and rising interest rates have made traditional funding sources more challenging for our clients. That being said, we've continued to have strong performance. We have more than doubled the size of our team since 2020 and I believe have taken share from competitors.”

Hiring Process

“Excellent and responsive interview and callback process. The recruiting team was very organized and helpful in planning the entire process. The ideal candidate for Kx is someone highly interested in life sciences looking to make a big impact on the healthcare/life sciences space. This may mean that you have a technical science background with an interest in life science-related businesses or a business background with an interest in working in the healthcare/life sciences space and a deep knowledge of science.”

“I had a very rapid interview and callback process. Only 2 weeks passed from the time I was invited to a first round interview, second round interview, and given an offer. I believe the ideal candidate my firm is seeking is an enthusiastic problem-solver unafraid to ask questions and eager to learn.”

“The interview process is very structured and laid out for the candidate at the beginning. Each step is followed up with a touchpoint from the recruiter, who then reviews and schedules the next step. The process combines behavioral interviews to assess culture/fit, attitude, and values with a case study and Q&A to evaluate thought process, subject matter expertise, presentation ability, ability to think on their feet.”

“Two initial interviews with casing, behavioral questions, and Q&A. Afterward, a written assignment and then a Super Day with Partners. I believe they are seeking an organized, thoughtful, and professional individual passionate about the healthcare space.”

“What makes Kx unique is their target pool of science majors. No business experience is necessary, which allows for a uniquely innovative culture with a variety of highly knowledgeable individuals across all project topics. My interview process took 2 months on the dot, which was faster than many other companies.”

Interview Questions

“After progressing past a behavioral interview, interviewees have to solve a mini case that includes aspects such as an estimation of a potential market size, pricing framework, and key launch factors to consider.”

“Estimate the number of people that would use X medical device. All medical - related cases were given.”

“Interviews are a mix of behavioral and case interviews. Case interviews include some quantitative testing with market sizing or using provided data to calculate answers, as well as testing broader strategic thinking and problem solving. Our behavioral questions relate to leadership, research and analysis experience, teamwork, relevant healthcare experience, and ‘why Kx’.”

“Tell us of a time you worked in a team with close deadline. How would you advise a client who is looking to launch a wellness wearable device?”

“Various healthcare and life science related technical consulting cases. Why do you want to work at Kx? What are your core values? What are your career goals?”